Shinobi Showdown: Demons Unite
by Shang
Summary: REWRITTEN: taking place during the time-skip, Tsunade decides to sent Konoha gennin to take part in the Tiger Challenge - a tournament that gathers shinobi from all over the Elemental Nations! But who is the mysterious boy who is supposed to replace Sasuke and what are his motives? Full summary inside.
1. Konoha Gennin Assemble

**Disclaimer: **I don't own "Naruto" and I'm sooooooooo NOT repeating this throughout this fic again ;P I do own my original characters.

**Summary: **Naruto returns to Konoha after a year of training with Jiraiya; and just in time too, as the Tiger Challenge arrives and Tsunade decided to sent the young, Konoha gennin to take part in it! With an event that gathers gennin from every, hidden village in the Elemental Nations, everyone has their own goals for the tournament: some want to prove something, some wish to test their skills, others have agenda of their own... but who is this mysterious, new member of team number seven that's going to replace Sasuke? And what are his motives?

Back by popular demand (meaning several people over the last, few months have been bugging me to continue :D), "Shinobi Showdown" is alive again. Some of you may ask why do I upload this separate, when the original is still on my profile; well, the answer is simple – this is a rewrite (or remake) of the actual SS.

Reading through first chapters of the original tale, I realized how much they sucked... and decided to bring the story "up to date". To that end I wish to "warn" everyone who want to read this fic – it was planned waaaaaay back in 2005, when "Naruto" was only introducing Sai. To that end, most of Part II/Shippunden revelations were not implemented into the tale itself, making this AU, if ever so slightly.

Lets start with the basics - this story takes place about a year after Naruto left Konoha (so during the time-skip); the blond returned recently and none of the Konoha gennin made it to the chuunin level yet (except for Shikamaru, who was promoted earlier).

Second – being planned from start to finish, giving me a hard time to change any, mayor information in the plot... thus there are some things that doesn't "fit in" with what the manga established later; for example the tale contains few Akatsuki OCs and the Bijuu (as well as Jinchuuriki) differ from the ones known in the original (those who read "Shinobi Showdown" earlier may remember that 4 Jinchuuriki were officially introduced, including Gaara and Naruto). The tailed beasts are also taken directly from the Japanese folklore... which means that Nibi is still a two-tailed cat, but in stead of Matatabi, it's the actual Nekomata!

So what WILL be different compared to SS's original run? Well, for starters, I "cleared" it a bit, so the read should be more enjoyable then it initially was (at least I hope so). I also altered the story a little bit; most of it is still in tact, but people who remember the original will note differences – some characters will be introduced earlier into the story then they were, some (that were supposed to appear later) will make a debut ahead of schedule (like jounin instructors of the Tiger Challenge participants), some events are added.

I've also made some changes to the story, allowing it to be more "true" to the source material; and thus you'll eventually will get to see ALL Akatsuki members; but the OCs I've prepared for this tale those 7 years ago are still in play as well, making Akatsuki more then just 9 people... other characters will be elaborated on, giving more depth to the participants of the Tiger Challenge. Furthermore, Sai (who was nowhere in the original draft of the tale) will be playing some part in it (wonder how many of you care :D). All in all, I'd like to believe that this tale improved plot-wise.

I do ask that you review this chappie (whether you read the original or not) and tell me what you think, so that I may see if this fic it truly worth reanimating. Those who wish to, may read the original version (I plan to leave it open for the time being), granted reading all 27 chapters of the first SS will be a tremendous spoiler for this one.

Now, before going to the story itself, I'd like to use this occasion to give all you girls out there my best wishes; not just because of the upcoming Women's Day, but simply because you deserve it. Hope this week will be filled with joyful happenings for you!

**Chapter #1: Konoha Gennin Assemble!**

A loud ring of the alarm clock sounded in the apartment and got instantly silenced by a mysterious hand; a hand that belonged to a young boy with blond hair, sky-blue eyes and whisker marks which decorated his cheeks.

The boy stretched and scratching himself in a less-then-dignified manner, looked at the clock with a sleepy face: "Eight thirty in the morning... Tsunade-obachan told us to be at her office at nine" he groaned, slowly rising to his feet.

Without haste he made himself breakfast, one that his friends were all too familiar with, then brushed his teeth and changed clothes to a black and orange jumpsuit, while a shinobi hitae-ate with the symbol of the Leaf on it got placed on his forehead.

He arrived at the Hokage office five minutes past nine, just to see that everybody was already there. Some of the people gathered were totally different then how he remembered, some didn't seem too changed much, but even so it was hard to not feel nostalgic; he may have returned to Konoha a week ago, but that still left him little time to catch up with everybody.

Haruno Sakura, a kunoichi with medium-length, pink hair and green eyes, stood beside her teacher's throne-like chair; dressed in short, black leg guards, red skirt and a sleeveless top in the same color, his old teammate started to resemble Tsunade, her new sensei, more and more as time flew. And, while her hands now sported black, fingerless gloves, she still carried her forehead protector on top of her head.

Konoha's laziest shinobi, Nara Shikamaru, in comparison, have not changed at all - he still had three, golden earrings in his ear and black, medium-length hair clipped in a ponytail that made his head look like a pineapple. Wearing a black t-shirt and a green, unbuttoned chuunin vest over it, the only, new feature was a long, wooden stick, which he carried strapped to his back. As usual he seemed to be sleeping while he was standing.

Sakura's old-time rival, Yamanaka Ino, a girl with long, blonde hair clipped into a ponytail that allowed one, single strand to cover the right side of her face was there as well; dressed in a revealing, violet dress that left her midriff and arms uncovered, she still wore her headband as a belt and while she have considerably grew in looks, it was clear that during the last year she also matured the most.

The widest gennin of them all, Akimichi Chouji, a boy with long, spiky, brown hair and whirlpool tattoos on his cheeks was still pretty fat, granted now that fact was more obscure thanks to the thick, red body armor that clad to him tightly. It was said that he was training hard with his father on mastering the clan supreme techniques, but what these were or if he made any progress was totally unknown to the whisker-marked teen.

A walking enigma - guy wearing shades with messy, black hair, dressed in a light green overcoat, carrying two Fuuma Shurikens attached to his back. With the hood now donned over the head, his demeanor was even more mysterious then ever, which implied that the attitude of Aburame Shino didn't change much during the time the blond gennin was away.

A heir of one of the most respected clans in all of Konoha, Hyuuga Hinata, have grown her black hair to shoulder-length during the orange-clad boy's absence. She clipped it in a ponytail, which left two strands to frame her pretty face, showing off the most distinguishing feature - completely white eyes. She drastically changed her dressing style, now sporting blue pants and yellow, unbuttoned overcoat above a white t-shirt, which allowed the blond to see she was developing nicely as a woman.

An impatient loud-mouth, Inuzuka Kiba, got rid of his gray overcoat in favor of dark blue jumpsuit with a fishnet underneath. His spiky, brown hair and two red fang tattoos on his cheeks remained in tact, but his usual partner, a white-fur dog named Akamaru, has become anything but a little puppy which he once were.

Called by many 'the greatest genius in all the Leaf', Hyuuga Neji, had the same, white eyes like Hinata and grew his black hair even longer, keeping it clipped in a ponytail. His attire changed into a gray outfit with wide sleeves, making him look somewhat plain, yet none the less he was still one of the top gennin, not only among Konoha ones.

Beside him was the kunoichi that didn't stand out to much – Tenten. A girl with brown hair clipped in two buns, wearing white, Eastern-styled shirt and blue pants, she remained one of the greatest weapon experts in the Leaf.

The creepiest, if it comes to looks anyway, gennin around, Rock Lee followed in Shikamaru's footsteps and changed little over the year; he still wore green and kept his helmet-like, black hair, while his already large eyebrows seem to grow in size. Even so, among Konoha gennin, none could match him in taijutsu.

The only one missing was a certain, raven-haired boy, but Naruto knew that one would not be showing up...

"Good, you finally arrived" smiled an older looking woman with blonde hair clipped in two ponytails behind her back and a huge wreck as she kept her hands clasped before her. Normally, the orange-clad boy's tardiness would've set a quarrel in motion, but as a 'welcome home' gift, she decided to skip it just this once: "Now we can begin..."

"So why have you called us here, Tsunade-sensei?" Ino asked curiously, visibly anxious.

"The reason is simple" replied the Godaime in a calm yet stern voice: "I want all of you to participate in a certain tournament..."

"A tournament?" Shino repeated, indicating he expected a more elaborated explanation.

"Yes, a tournament" the woman nodded patiently, shifting her attention towards him. "It takes place only once every ten years and it's a well-known event among the shinobi from all villages… probably the best test for the young gennin too..."

"So what is this event that you keep talking about, Hokage-sama?" asked Neji, crossing his arms; he was not particularly a patient man.

"It's called the Tiger Challenge and it allows gennin from every, hidden village to participate in it" Tsunade responded, not bothering to speed her monolog up. "However the number of teams from every village that can enter is limited..."

"To how many?" now Tenten got suspicious.

"Four per village" the Godaime told her. "And so I've chosen you guys to represent Konoha on this decade's tournament; from what I know, you're the most skilled group of gennin we have to offer, which basically makes you the logical choice."

"I'm afraid there are two 'buts' about that, Tsunade-sama" announced Shikamaru, not liking where this was going; he was not keen on taking part in something that troublesome: "First one is the fact that I'm a chuunin, which, according to your words, makes me illegitimate to participate in the event... thus Ino and Chouji are left without a third teammate. Also, Naruto and Sakura are in a similar situation..."

With those words both members of Kakashi's cell became a little gloomy.

"That has been already taken care of, Shikamaru" the Hokage replied calmly. "As it goes for your team, you'll be allowed to participate in the tournament on the grounds that you're a rookie chuunin that just got promoted. Of course it's not like it was arranged just like that; rookie or not, you are a chuunin and the Tiger Challenge is a tournament for gennin; in order to balance it out, in stead of four, Konoha will be able to send only one jounin with all the teams…"

"_I was hoping to seat this one out"_ the lazy boy thought to himself bitterly. "_How troublesome…"_

"And when it comes to you guys" with those words Tsunade turned to Naruto and Sakura, giving them a worried expression before she continued: "I have found you a replacement for the time being..."

"A replacement?" Sakura repeated, visibly not thrilled with the idea. "Who?"

"Easy, easy" responded the Godaime, pointing towards the doors on her right: "I'll introduce this person to you right now…" and as those words left her mouth, the doors opened, allowing a boy Naruto's age to entered the office.

He had spiky, blond hair, much like the orange-clad gennin, with a long ponytail falling on his back. His green eyes carefully scanned the group, despite the left one having a vertical cut going across it. His attire consisted of a black shirt with short sleeves and light-blue, unbuttoned vest with a black kanji symbol, that represented 'hyena' on its back. White pants with short trouser legs, a bandage that covered his right hand and two katana attached to his back completed the look.

"This is Nadare Fukamaru" Tsunade introduced the arrival. "And he'll be the new member of team number seven for the time being..."

"And just why should he be a member of our team?!" yelled Naruto, pointing at the blond; he wasn't quite ready to allow anyone take Sasuke's spot and, deep down, Sakura shared that sentiment. "How do we know he's qualified enough?!"

"Would the fact that I could beat you senseless with my eyes closed and left hand tied behind my back be enough to prove my qualifications?" Fukamaru replied with calm in his voice, which agitated the whisker-marked boy even further.

"Lets take it outside, whelp!"

"_This kinda reminds me of a certain event from the past"_ Tsunade thought to herself, sweat dropping at the outcome.

"Na-Naruto-kun, please don't" Hinata asked shyly, but the blond gennin already left Hokage's office, too furious to listen to reason. The swordsman, on the other hand, just sighed and walked after him without haste.

"This could be fun" Kiba smirked as he turned towards the large dog: "Right, Akamaru?" he questioned, making the canine bark in agreement.

"Better get some popcorn" Chouji added seriously, which only made Ino sweat drop as well. Meanwhile Lee did not hide his excitement, granted he managed to restrain himself from shouting, like he usually did: _"That's the spirit of youth! We'll__ finally see how much you've grown, Naruto-kun!_"

"How troublesome" Shikamaru merely sighed as he followed the rest of the gennin outside.

-Few minutes later-

Naruto stood in front of Fukamaru, sending him an angry glare, while the swordsman kept his cool, gazing lazily at the whisker-marked boy: "So, any rules to this, little duel?" he asked with an uncaring voice. "Best established now, so that you could limit your embarrassment... if only by little..."

"Don't get smug with me, dammit!" the Kyuubi vessel snapped at his opponent. "You won't even be able to touch me!" he proclaimed, but the other teen remained unfazed:

"Let me just tell you, that people who talk big usually end up screaming for momma the loudest" Fukamaru stated with indifference. "I hate wasting time, so could we, please, start?"

"S-somebody should stop them" Hinata whispered with her head lowered, but that request was completely overwhelmed by Kiba's shout: "Get it on already!"

Suddenly, both Naruto and Fukamaru charged at each other; the former instantly performing his primary technique, Kage Bunshin, making his single figure get replaced by nine bodies, each coming at the swordsman in a frontal assault.

"_A simple shadow replication?"_ the boy with the ponytail thought, narrowing his eyes slightly. "_What's he trying to do, make me bust a gut laughing?"_ and with that he performed a short chain of hand seals, calling out with the last symbol: "Katon: Kasai Uzumaki!"

In a flash chakra began to escape from his feet, forming a circle of fire around him. As four Narutos jumped into the air with an intent to land a blow on his face, the ring of flames went up, creating a fire barrier around Fukamaru. Immediately all of the clones that crashed into that wall disappeared in the cloud of white smoke, filling the air with a familiar, puffing noise.

"Impressive" Lee nodded with approval, putting his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Looks like we've got another, absolute defense" and with that he turned to his teammate, yet Neji merely 'hmphed' at the implication.

The four, remaining clones of Naruto surrounded the whirlpool, ready to strike the moment fire dies down, however they all felt chakra accumulating within the barrier, putting them on defense. An instant later Fukamaru's voice beamed from behind the wall, like a premonition: "Katon: Kasai Hebi!".

In a fraction of a second, a powerful fire missile in the shape of a viper with opened mouth came at the original, slithering between the copies. Acting on instinct, Naruto jumped to the air, managing to avoid a direct hit, yet his clothes got a little burnt anyway.

While he was still in mid-air, the fire barrier disappeared and his clones charged at Fukamaru with kunai in their hands, while the original began performing a new set of hand seals as he descended back to the ground.

The first of the bunshin received a direct hit from one of the swordsman's katana, which the boy unsheathed in a blink of an eye. The second clone's attack was deflected by that very same blade, while the third's assault got blocked by the second weapon. Trapped in a deadlock, Fukamaru watched as the fourth copy cut from the side, aiming at his head.

However the instant the kunai reached its target, the swordsman's body changed into a wooden pale, making the attack harmless.

"_Kawamiri?"_ Naruto thought, slightly surprised, as he finished the chain of hand seals. "_But it'll take more to defeat me then some primitive techniques"_ and with that the set was complete, allowing the whisker-marked kid to call out: "Fuuton: Arai Dageki!"

Suddenly the air surrounding him began to circle rapidly and a powerful tornado went straight at the place where Fukamaru reappeared, taking the swordsman off-guard.

"_That technique"_ Tenten thought to herself, covering her eyes. "_It's similar in strength to that sand girl's who defeated me during the Chuunin Selection Exam..._"

"_A wind jutsu?"_ Fukamaru narrowed his eyes as the wind blown him away, smashing his back against a wall. "_I thought Konoha specialized in Fire Release... this is interesting, but if he's not using Katon, then__ I guess I should reveal my abilities also_' and with that he began performing a new chain of hand seals: "Suiton: Soudai Tsunami!"

Before anyone knew it, all three clones of Naruto, that charged at the swordsman, were wiped out by a powerful tidal wave that came from the latter's mouths, quickly covering most of the area in a cascading manner.

"_What a technique"_ Shino noted, remaining indifferent on the outside. _"Such a massive Suiton where there's no water... also,__ I thought that any Suiton Konoha had died with the Nidaime Hokage..._"

Seeing the oncoming water, Naruto instantly began performing another chain of hand seals and right before the wave reached him, he called out, slamming his hands to the ground: "Doton: Ishi Sekisho!"

In a flash a huge wall of stone came from the underground, blocking tsunami's path.

"_Heh, he channeled his chakra into the ground and used it to pull up the stones in a way they would create a blockade"_ Fukamaru quickly analyzed the situation, as he began to perform a new set of seals, a tiny smirk appearing on his face: "_This guy's better then I thought..._"

Meanwhile, still behind the stone wall, Naruto began performing a set of hand seals of his own. With the preparations complete, he stepped into the open, yelling from the bottom of his lungs: "Fuuton: Ketatamashii Kaze!"

Before the swordsman noticed, a powerful, spinning wind erupted from behind the whisker-marked boy and formed in a spike, coming straight at him. Instantly it smashed into Fukamaru's torso, but just as his stomach got pierced be the wind lance, the blond's body turned into a puddle of water, splattering over the ground.

"Mizu bunshin?" Naruto's eyes widen with surprise, as the real Fukamaru appeared right behind him, ending a new set of seals: "Suirou no Jutsu!" he called out and in a flash the Kyuubi vessel got trapped in a big bubble of water.

"_That technique"_ Sakura thought to herself, widening her eyes. "_But didn't that Zabuza guy from the Wave used the same jutsu against Kakashi-sensei?_"

"Looks like this is the end" Fukamaru announced calmly, holding his hand in the bubble. "I win..."

"Really?" Naruto asked with a grin on his face, as he disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

"Kage bunshin?" this time it was Fukamaru's eyes that widen at the outcome: "_So he thought up the same strategy I did?_"

"But where's the original?" Chouji questioned, looking around curiously.

"Over there!" Ino pointed to the top of a nearby building where, sure enough, Naruto stood with his right hand in front of him. A ball of blue chakra started to form in his palm, spinning wildly. The forming orb surprised everyone, except Tsunade, who started to look worried.

"What…" was all Kiba could say, his mouth agape. "What in the world is that?!"

Without reply, Naruto jumped down with the chakra ball in his hand and charged at Fukamaru, running at top speed. Seeing this, his opponent grabbed one of his katana, performed few, single-handed seals, called out 'Mikazuki no Mai' and instantly three swordsman appeared in one's place, dashing at the whisker-marked kid heads on.

As both of them were closing in on each other, Tsunade entered the space between the two, grabbing Naruto by the wrist of his hand that was holding the Rasengan and Fukamaru by the one holding the sword. Before anyone of them could react, the Godaime send both of them flying away with a powerful yank.

Fukamaru was able to land on his feet and just sled a few meters; Naruto on the other hand landed hard and rolled on the ground for few seconds before he managed to came to a stop.

"I believe that's enough" Tsunade announced sternly, sending both a hard glare. "Whether you like it or not, you're both Leaf shinobi and you are NOT allowed to use those sort of techniques against comrades! More over, from now on you're on the same team, so grow up and live with it!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama" Fukamaru replied humbly after a moment of hesitation, bowing.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Naruto responded, dusting himself off, without showing any respect to Konoha's leader.

"Anyways…" the Godaime continued, her eye twitching as she did her best to ignore the blonds. "I want to see all of you tomorrow at nine in the morning at the East Gate. Once you're there, you'll meet your jounin sensei for the time of the tournament. Understood? Then dismiss!" and with that commend Konoha gennin scattered.

"This is going to be extremely troublesome" Shikamaru whispered, as he headed back to his own home to pack for the coming trip.

_**-and so it begins!-**_

And that's it for the first chapter. Hope you liked it. Please tell me what you think about it.

Also, for those who are interested, I place a little info about the origins of my OC's name:

_Fukamaru Nadare _- 'fuka' can be translated into English as 'shark' and '-maru' usually means something in full. Fukamaru uses many water-based techniques which is one of the reasons he was given the name from the famous, underwater predator (those who read the original SS likely see more connection to his name then that). As for his last name, 'nadare' is translated as 'avalanche'.

And now it's time for a little jutsu encyklopedia:

_Katon: Kasai Uzumaki _(Fire Element: Fire Whirlpool)

_Katon: Kasai Hebi _(Fire Element: Fire Serpent)

_Fuuton: Arai Dageki _(Air Element: Wild Blow)

_Suiton: Soudai Tsunami _(Water Element: Grand Tidal Wave)

_Doton: Ishi Sekisho _(Earth Element: Stone Barrier)

_Fuuton: Ketatamashii Kaze _(Air Element: Piercing Wind)

_Suirou no Jutsu _(Water Prison Skill)

_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu _(Shadow Clone Skill)

_Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu _(Water Clone Skill)

_Rasengan _(actually, I don't know how to translate it, but 'rasen' in this case probably means 'spiral')

_Mikazuki no Mai _(Dance of the Crescent Moon)

Now this is seriously the end of the remake's first chapter. Hope you liked it.

Take care and hope you'll read the next chappie.


	2. The Day They Set Off

Well, the first chapter was not changed greatly, due to the introduction feel of it, but as the story progress you'll see the differences (most particularly in the Tiger Challenge participant lineup). This chappie itself possess a scene that was generally left out earlier and represent a certain element I was thinking of implementing in the first run, but eventually dropped the idea. Now it's back on :)

And now, so I won't keep you waiting, lets carry on with the story:

**Chapter #2: The Day They Set Off**

Chouji began to pack his bags. From the very beginning, he threw lots of potato chip bags, filling his backpack in a flash. On a plus side, it didn't do much to add extra weight to his luggage.

"I see you still haven't changed much, eh Chouji?" the chubby ninja heard a voice coming from behind and as he turned around, he saw Shikamaru standing in the door frame with just a small bag, tied to his staff that he was always carrying with himself.

"Is it bad that I like to eat?" replied the Akimichi heir as he packed few more bags of chips, pushing them in. The effect was immediate as the bags popped, spreading the chips to all corners of the backpack, making the boy let out a sigh. "You should know my abilities require a rapid burn of calories; I need to prepare myself to regain them on the spot, so I can't really pack light. Besides, who are you to talk? Are you seriously just taking what's inside that on such a trip?" he asked, pointing towards the end of the chuunin's staff. "You don't know when we'll be coming back..."

"And what's the point in packing so much? You'll need to carry it all around and that would just be too troublesome…" the lazy ninja commented, making both boys smile under their noses, as Chouji stared at the starry night through the window.

"We really haven't changed that much, have we Shikamaru?" he asked his friend, not even turning his face to him. His gaze got blank, almost mesmerized by the dark sky. "You're still a lazy bump and I'm still the heaviest Leaf gennin... I wonder if we're really a good choice to represent Konoha in such an event."

"That's not entirely true" replied the young Nara after a short silence. "The change thing, I mean. The difference may not be visible at first. That's all."

"Maybe you're right" Chouji said, not very convinced, as he turned his head. "But I intend to prove to everyone how much I've grown during that tournament. You just watch me. I'm not gonna let you take the spotlight this time around!" he proclaimed with a smirk.

Shikamaru just lowered his head and smiled as well. The boy that was sitting right in front of him wasn't the same, chubby glutton as he once was: "Come on" he replied, rising his head. "I'll help you pack the rest of your stuff…"

-that time, elsewhere-

Fukamaru was sitting on one of the roof tops in the center of Konoha. He observed the night sky and didn't even seemed to pay any attention to anything else, hypnotized by the stars. A strange sense of longing took over him, to the point he ignored Naruto, who appeared on the same roof and began to walk closer to his new teammate.

"Just what do you want?" the swordsman asked harshly, without even looking at Konoha's loudest ninja.

"I just came here to talk" Naruto replied, holding up his hands in a defensive manner. "Today got a bit rough, partly at my fault" he admitted, making the other blond's eye twitch at the 'partly' word. "We are on the same team now, you know, so…"

"Sorry, but I have nothing to speak with you about" Fukamaru interrupted him calmly, still looking up. "We'll be on the same team, but that doesn't mean that we have to like each other… especially since our goals are totally different."

"What do you mean? We're both going to protect Konoha's reputation…"

"I couldn't care less about Konoha's reputation" the swordsman stated, shocking the Kyuubi vessel. "I am grateful to the Leaf for what its done for me and, to that end, I will do my best, however I'm going to that tournament primary because your Hokage arranged participation behind my back… and the reason I don't mind it that much is simply because I'm pretty sure I'll find a trace of THAT person there" he added, narrowing his eyes.

"What the hell!? You're a Leaf shinobi! How can you not care about your village's reputation?"

"I'm a Leaf shinobi?" Fukamaru repeated, finally turning his head towards Naruto, while he got up to his feet. "This is new. Listen up, bonehead: I am not a Leaf shinobi and the forehead protector I'm wearing on my head doesn't mean much to me. Also, more importantly, I don't feel the need to tell you more about myself. We are only teammates… not comrades. The only comrades I had are either dead or are hunting me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to pack my stuff for our journey" and with those words he jumped down from the roof, leaving the whisker-marked gennin alone.

"_He's not… a Leaf shinobi?"_ the Kyuubi vessel thought to himself as he stared at the place where the swordsman was standing just moments ago. "_So why… ?"_

-little later, another place-

Punching bag dummy went into pieces as Lee landed another hit on it. With a little smile on his face, fuzzy-brows began to do sit-ups. As time pasted, his beloved sensei, Maito Gai, appeared on the training area, per usual making a scene: "Ah, my youthful student, it's good to see that the flame of youth still burns within you!" the jounin yelled.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee yelled back excitedly, a small, manly tear of joy appearing in his eye. "Why have you graced me with your presence?"

"I hope the news I came here to tell won't put down your flame of youth, but I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany you this time" the man responded, hanging his head. To this the self-proclaimed Azure Beast paled, his heart skipping a bit.

"Why's that?! Gai-sensei!"

"The jounin that was chosen to come with you is… is not me!" at those words tears ran down Kakashi's rival face in a manner that would make most people slap their foreheads, should they see it. "Lee, I'm so sorry!" at that he embraced his subordinate and the boy returned the hug.

After a while they broke up and Gai put his hand on Konoha's Azure Beast, saying: "But remember this Lee: even if I won't be there, I'll still watch over you! Remember that the reputation of the whole village lies in your hands. And I'd also like to give you a final warning. Lee, remember that technique I thought you lately?"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" fuzzy brows saluted, putting as much respect as he could into the reply.

"Do not use it! Under any circumstances!"

"But Gai-sensei" the boy began, completely confused.

"Promise me, Lee! Promise that you won't even think about using it!"

"I... promise" Lee replied after a moment of hesitation.

"Good" Gai stated, nodding, surprisingly quietly.

-and yet, another scene change-

There was a knock on the door. The Hyuuga heiress stopped her packing and turned her head towards it, politely asking in her usual, barely hearable whisper: "Who is it?"

"Hinata-sama, it is me" she heard Neji's voice coming from the other side. "May I come in?"

"Yes, please" she replied and got back to packing her bags while the boy entered. "Why have you came, niisan? Shouldn't you be preparing for the trip as well?" she asked with a note of concern in her voice.

"I've already packed everything I need" he said calmly in response. "I came to see if you needed any help, Hinata-sama."

"I'm fine, niisan. I believe I'm finished as well" and with those words she closed her bag, slowly rising to her feet from the floor. Silence fell between them as Neji observed his cousin, a concerned look plastered on his face.

"Hinata-sama" he finally spoke, carefully choosing his words. "Are you certain you want… ?"

"I'll be fine, niisan" she assured him, somewhat sternly, without even looking at the Hyuuga genius. "This time I won't run. This time I'll prove my worth!" she proclaimed, tightening her fists.

Neji looked at the young heiress for a moment and couldn't help but smile at the statement. He nodded and spun around, walking down the hall. He stopped near the window and watched the stars, their glitter reflecting in his white eyes: "_She has changed. She has changed a lot_" he thought to himself. "_And how much have you changed, Naruto?"_

He didn't even noticed that Kiba was lying on a nearby roof top, staring at the stars as well. A moment later a large canine came and started to lick the boy's face, making the young Inuzuka smile a little and pull himself up as he stroke the dog's back: "You're excited as well, aren't you, Akamaru?" he asked with a smirk. "We won't be defeated so easily this time, are we boy?"

The dog just barked loudly as a 'yes'.

-and we move on to another part of the village-

Sakura was finishing packing her stuff when Ino, unceremoniously, came into her room: "So, you're going after all, Forehead?" she smiled teasingly, spotting the backpack of her rival. "Do you really think you can win?"

"Ino, pig, I've been training with Tsunade-sama, so you should know this better then anyone" replied the pink-haired kunoichi as she held back her annoyance, a vein pulsating on her forehead. "I won't lose to you… nor that I plan losing to anyone!"

"You sure are confident in yourself this time... but training under Tsunade-sama won't give you any edge against me; looks like this whole tournament is going to be fun" the blonde noted. "Personally, I can't wait" and with that Ino widen her smirk.

"Yeah" Sakura nodded, returning the smile."Me neither..."

-guess what happens-

Tenten was packing the last of her throwing weapons into her backpack, putting them gently next to her summoning scrolls. With the last kunai in place, she froze and gazed at her wall on which many types of shinobi tools hang: from typical kunai and shuriken to exotic katana and even axes. Her eyes then stopped at a strange scroll that stood on the right end of the shelf. She got up and walked closer, picking it up as she stared at it for a moment: "_Should I really take you with me?"_ she asked herself and with hesitation turned to her bag. "_Will I really need you?_"

-almost done with scene changes, promise-

Shino was finishing his dinner when his father came into the kitchen. The man gave his son a welcoming nod and sat right in front of the boy, staring at him from behind his shades. There was silence for a while, before Shibi spoke up in the usual, Aburame monotone: "I heard tomorrow you're going to the Tiger Challenge."

"Yes" Shino replied simply, using as little words as possible.

"I took part in it as well, when I was around your age, you know" the man announced, not bothered by the fact his son failed to grace him with a glance. "Exactly twenty years ago. How that time flies…"

"How was it?" the young Aburame questioned in his usual way.

"Difficult" Shibi responded heavily. "My team actually only made it till the half of the tournament, before we failed. But none of the Konoha teams made it till the final test at that time. Most of them haven't even returned home..."

"Killing is allowed?" Shino rather stated then asked, rising his eye-brow.

"Of course" his father replied with a nod. "That is a shinobi tournament after all. Above the Chuunin Exam, it's the hardest test that young gennin can participate in."

Shino had no answer to that; Shibi looked at him, sensing that he got a bit nervous, despite the usual, calm exterior: "But I believe in you, son" he proclaimed, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I know you'll make us proud" and with that a smile appeared on his face; a trait most uncommon in their clan.

The young heir just raised his head and nodded after a moment of hesitation: "I better get to bed" he announced, leaving the kitchen in an agonizingly slow pace. "We set off first thing in the morning. Goodnight" and with those words he bowed, heading towards his room. Tomorrow his new battle would begin.

-the next morning-

"_That is a very bold and unusual request..." Tsunade announced, hands clasped before her face as she observed the boy standing in front of her: "Fukamaru, was it?"_

"_Yes, Hokage-san" the blond replied with a nod, keeping a calm expression on his face. "And I realize there are a lot of things to consider in such a predicament, so I'm not expecting an answer right away; I am, however, aware that if I stay as is, I will eventually get killed. It's a simple matter of survival."_

"_That's an honest way to put it" the Godaime stated, looking him up and down. "No doubt, the Nadare kekkai genkai would become a great asset to Konoha, but the issue of your past can cause trouble from the Leaf... skipping the fact that I have no guarantee concerning your, actual allegiance..."_

"_Yes, I imagine that can be problematic for you" the swordsman responded, not surprised by the accusation at all. "And this is why I have more to offer then just Toragan" he proclaimed, narrowing his eyes._

"_And what else is there?" a young woman with shoulder-length, black hair and eyes in the same color, which she settled on the teen suspiciously. Wearing a bluish-black kimono with white trimmings, the Hokage's attendant made it very clear she was not particularly trusting towards the boy._

_Fukamaru took a quick glance at his bandages, hesitating for a moment. He then took a deep breath and settled his eyes on the women, slowly speaking his next words..._

Next thing he knew, he was blinking his eyes as the first rays of sun fell on his bed, awakening him from the dream. The blond rubbed his pupils, slowly getting up; the dream didn't particularly fazed him, but the sudden urge it ignited made him wary. Very wary.

Without haste, he entered the bathroom and stopping at the sink, he looked into the mirror, only now noticing he was huffing, if ever lightly. His grip tightened as his eyes traveled towards the bandaged arm; subconsciously his hand reached for the material, grabbing the end of the wrapping.

The swordsman pulled the bandage slowly, yet froze in the next second, his body shaking as a familiar chill ran down his spine. His breath visibly quickened as he glanced at the mirror again, noticing sweat started covering his face. Immediately he put the wrapping back in its place and drop to the sink, feeling like his legs were about to give in.

His eyes narrowed while he clenched his teeth, disgust surging through his body: "_The sensation grows stronger... this last week I can almost feel it in the back of my head_" he thought to himself, grabbing his bandaged arm like he just got burnt. "_Especially yesterday, when I fought that guy... I nearly lost it, but... it was different. It wasn't excitement, it was... familiar_" he recalled, balling his palm into a fist. "_I don't know how, but... that Uzumaki fellow must be responsible! I cannot allow this to repeat... I cannot allow that to happen again... if I'm not carefully... I may end up killing that dope!_" the last bit made him shiver at the possibility as a concerned expression crossed his face.

With another breath he glanced out the window; it was almost rendezvous time. Quickly he made the final preparations and headed in the right direction, towards the East Gate. Most people were already at the spot when he reach the destination, the last ones to show their faces being Naruto, Tsunade and Shikamaru.

Of course, the last two were no surprise to anyone but Fukamaru: "_And she told us not to be late_" the swordsman thought to himself with a frown at the sight of the tardy Godaime.

"Glad to see you all made it here in time" announced the only female of the legendary leaves, giving them an approving nod. "Hope you're all ready to set off, coz in a moment your jounin instructor should be here. Once he'll show up, you'll head to the Rain Country. There you'll get on a ship which will take you to the island on which the tournament will take place…"

"_So this whole challenge won't take place on the continent?"_ Sakura was a bit surprised... and slightly nervous. "_Since we'll be leaving for one of the ports in the Rain Country, that would mean we'll be taken to a neutral island…_"

"Now all we gotta do is wait for your jounin guide to arrive" Tsunade stated and turned her head towards the village, but no-one was coming.

_I'm not a Leaf shinobi _Fukamaru's words sounded in Naruto's head, occupying the blond entirely, to the point he wasn't even bothered that some jounin was making him wait... again: "_So what are you expecting from this tournament?_" he asked himself, looking at his new teammate. "_Who is that person you wish to find?_"

"Your jounin instructor for the time of the tournament should be here any minute now" Tsunade repeated, tapping her foot as she started to get pissed. And time was passing by…

"Where the hell is he?!" Ino yelled annoyed, shaking from anger. "Hokage-sama, don't tell me you chose Kakashi-san as our jounin guide!" she asked accusingly, turning towards the Godaime.

"Of course I didn't" Tsunade snapped back, a vein pulsing on her forehead as well. "And he can be sure that the moment he arrives, I'll beat him senseless!" she added, cracking her knuckles with fury.

After a much longer while, their guide finally appeared; he had white hair and a wart in his nose. His attire gave an impression of a hermit, while none of the gennin spotted Konoha's hitae-ate, in stead noting a horned forehead protector with a kanji for 'oil' on it. They did not knew the man, but Naruto immediately recognized him: "Ero-sennin?!" he yelled, pointing a finger at the arrival. "What the hell, he'll be our jounin guide?!" he demanded, shifting his attention towards the Fire Shadow.

"What, you don't like it, brat?" the toad hermit yelled back, looking at the blond, his eyes turning pupiless as he pressed his nose against the Kyuubi vessel.

"Jiraiya, come over here for a minute" Tsunade asked in a threatening manner and, while he sensed what was coming, the white-haired man granted her wish, allowing the fifth Hokage to wipe the floor with her former teammate. Literally.

"Okay, okay!" he yelled as Tsunade's left foot kept stomping on his back. "Sorry for being late!"

The young gennin only sweat dropped at the sight.

"Anyways" the toad hermit began, dusting himself off, like he had any dignity left: "Seems that I'll be your guide for the time of the Tiger Challenge. You may call me Jiraiya, Jiraiya-sensei, Jiraiya-sama, Jiraiya-san, but I swear to God, if any of you'll call me ero-sennin, I'll kill him!"

"Oh, quit it, ero-sennin?" Naruto yelled, ignoring the threat. "And don't you dare playing with those, nasty books of yours! We should get going! We don't want to be late!"

"The name's Jiraiya, dammit! When are you going to learn that, shrimp!?" the man snapped, pushing his face against the boy's again, much to everyone's confusion.

"_This guy"_ Fukamaru thought, while observing the silver-haired man with narrowed eyes."_I__s he really one of the legendary Leaves? He doesn't look much_" he concluded and then changed his expression to confused as well:"_And what's with that 'ero-sennin' stuff?_"

"At any rate" Jiraiya said, turning to his new subordinates. "Sorry for being late, I needed to gather some material before our trip. We'll be leaving immediately, so I hope all of you are ready, coz we're not going to be back for a bit. In case you'll have any questions, ask me directly. Now, is everybody ready?"

"Yeah!" yelled almost everyone in unity, raising their hands to the sky... everyone except Shikamaru, who was too lazy to make a single motion, and Fukamaru who decided he won't make an idiot of himself; aside from these two, even Hinata joined the rest.

"Well then, lets go!" and with those words, the youth of Konoha followed their new sensei as they rushed out the gate.

"Good luck" Tsunade whispered, watching as thirteen shinobi headed north. "You'll need it" she added before turning around to get back to the village. She still had a lot of paperwork to do today...

_**-and they're off!-**_

And with that the second chapter ends. Hope you liked it. Please leave a review with your opinion.

Also, since there's no jutsu this time around, I've decided to place a short story that just came to my head out of nowhere. It's pretty dumb (a re-do of the original one), but maybe some of you will find it funny... Anyways, here it is:

**OMAKE: Naruto's Nightmare**

"_Finally I was able to save enough money in order to eat that new, ramen flavor the bar owner kept talking about!"_ Naruto thought with a greedy smile on his face. "_It's mine, all mine!"_

He exited his apartment without rush, aiming to savor the moment. As he walked through the village in the direction of his favorite, ramen bar, Ichiraku, however, he bounced into Sakura, who just seemed to stand there, looking at some gallery.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! What's up?" he greeted the young kunoichi.

"Oh, hi Naruto" she replied and got back to looking at the gallery.

As the blond gennin followed her sight, he spotted a small, silver medallion laying on the shelf: "_Oh yeah, now I remember"_ he thought to himself with a nod. "_It's that thing Sakura-chan kept talking about lately… hmmm… it's not very expensive… I guess I could buy her that… I'll just eat few ramen bowls less then planned…"_ and with that thought he entered the shop.

As soon as Sakura received the gift, she jumped onto Naruto's neck and kissed him on the cheek. The loud mouth blushed deeply as he observed his teammate wondering off with the medallion on her neck.

"_Now that's what you call well-spend money"_ he thought to himself with a blissful smile as he rubbed the cheek Sakura kissed him.

Counting the money he got left and making sure he still had enough for few bowls of the famous, new ramen meal, he went on, crossing his ways with Shikamaru.

"Oi, Naruto, how's it going?" asked the lazy shinobi, surprisingly lively.

"Pretty good, since I'm going to eat that new ramen meal everyone's talking about" the blond responded and with that he shown his friend the money he was carrying.

"Man, you're lucky, I could use some greens… it's my mother's birthday and if I won't give her a good present, she'll be seriously pissed. I was hoping to get her those boots she wanted so badly, but it seems I don't have enough money... and I need to get some fast or I'm a dead man… hey, maybe you could lend me some? I'll pay you back as soon as I'll get paid for my next mission."

"_Lets see: if I'd agree to that, I'd be able to eat only one bowl… then again, he really does have a problem… and I can ask him to pay me back with accrued interest_" the Kyuubi vessel calculated with an evil grin.

And thus, giving Shikamaru the money he needed, Naruto continued his journey to the Ichiraku Ramen Stand, but just as he reached it, he spotted Hinata sitting on a chair and looking into her wallet.

"Hey Hinata, what's up?" he asked cheerfully. Today was still a joyful occasion after all.

"N-Naruto-kun" the Hyuuga heiress replied shocked, blushing slightly. "H-Hi..."

"Is something wrong?" the boy asked concerned, rising an eyebrow.

"Oh, no it's just… well, it's s-seems I ate a l-little too much and now I-I don't have enough money t-to cover my b-bill" the girl explained, hanging her head.

Naruto looked at girl who desperately wanted to find at least a bit more money in her wallet and his heart broke. Finally he left his own on the table: "Here, you can pay me back later" and with that he went in the direction of the shop owner. "Hey, Teuchi-san! How about you give me the bowl of that new ramen you have on credit?" he asked, making puppy eyes.

"Sorry, Naruto, you know the rules" the man replied sternly. "That new flavor is the only meal you can't get on credit!"

"Nooooooooooooooooooooo!" the whisker-marks kid screamed and with that he woke up in his own room.

Instantly he broke his piggy-bank and checked how much money he had. The amount of it was good: "_It was just a bad dream"_ he thought to himself as he took all the ryou and went straight to Ichiraku. Not stopping anywhere, he reached the bar and made his order, anxious to complete the transaction: "One bowl of that new ramen in the menu!"

The owner of the shop turned to the loud mouth and with a sad voice he replied: "I'm sorry, Naruto, but we're all out of it. I gave the last bowl to that kid" and with that he pointed at a nearby table.

There Naruto saw Fukamaru swallowing more and more of his meal. As he spotted the whisker-marks boy, he turned to his new teammate and with noodles falling from his mouth, he asked in an annoyed manner: "What the heck are you looking at, dork?"

It was then that all of Konoha was able to hear a scream that reached its furthest corners: "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo!"

_Fin_

And that is that. Hope you enjoyed the installment. I'll try to submit the third chapter soon. But, since it's likely not gonna take place before the holidays, I'd like to wish you all you wonderful reviewers _**HAPPY EASTER!**_

Take care and hope to see you when third chapter will be re-released... you can expect more changes in it then seen thus far!


	3. Silence Before the Storm

I'm a bit late with this chappie, so without delays, the story continues:

**IMPORTANT NOTE:** the changes in this chapter include scrapping character profiles; most of them dealt with the characters from the manga anyway, so you can just check the internet for those. On another note, I've decided to make a gennin list starting now (the original run had it waaaaaay later) in the spirit of N:NG, which will hopefully help you get acquainted/reacquainted with everybody. Naturally, characters will be added to the list as they make their debut. Also, this chapter marks the beginning of the new rooster of the challengers.

And now on with the story:

**Chapter #3: Silence before the Storm**

Four people dressed in jet black robes and forehead protectors with a skull on them headed towards the Rain Country. While they were speeding through the heavy downpour, the one leading them, easily the oldest among the group, froze, giving the others a signal to do the same.

The other three stopped immediately as a storm of lighting dropped from the skies, forming bars before them as the electricity burnt the ground just inches before the quartet. The man looked around with his red eyes and after a longer while he spotted another group of four, standing near the place the deadly light show was initiated.

"I guess you're the ones to blame for this" he announced, glaring at the quartet. "Just what the hell do you want? We do not have time to play with some, nameless shinobi such as yourselves."

"Fine then, I'll get right to the point: you're heading to the Rain Country in order to participate in the Tiger Challenge, aren't you?" replied the man in a black hood. His face was completely covered by it and the only thing that the red-eyed ninja could see were two pupils, shining purple from under the shadows. "You're the only team from Kaimeigakure, right? If so, I'd like to ask you for your forehead protectors. If you'll give them peacefully, no-one will get hurt."

"What the hell is this supposed to be?" asked the red-eyes angrily. "You plan on taking our place?"

"That is exactly our intention" responded the hooded man calmly, without any trace of emotion in his voice. "You see, there will be people who… present a special interest to me and my comrades. Unfortunately, we do not come from any village and thus we're not allowed to participate. But you're the only team from Kaimei in this year's tournament; if we were to take your place, no-one would even notice. But enough chit-chat - will you give us those forehead protectors or do you rather die trying to keep them?"

"You're underestimating us, butt head!" replied the red-eyes, his face twisted by fury. "It's four on four and I'm an elite jounin from the Kaimeigakure. If you think that the four of you can defeat us, you're welcome to give it a shot!"

"Oh, I do not intend to fight with you" announced the hooded man, rising his arms in a calming manner. "Why waste the energy? I'll allow one of my subordinates to deal with you however" at this point he nodded towards one of his three comrades to step forward.

The one to do so has taken off his hood, thus revealing a boy around fourteen years of age with white, spiky hair and completely black eyes. His hands, as well as his mouth and most of his body from feet to neck were covered in bandages, only partly hidden by the robe. His figure was surprisingly skinny, while the teen was incredibly pale, like all blood was drained from his body.

"You send a gennin to fight jounin and three others?" the red-eyed man was not amused, keeping a close watch on the hooded figure. "You're a terrible leader; the kid won't even last a minute! Look at him - he took so much damage, it's surprising he's still alive! Frankly, he looks like he's about to topple over!"

The boy didn't respond, he just stood there, not moving an inch.

Then, suddenly, he jumped right at the Kaimei jounin, not bothering to even grab any weapon. The red-eyed man reacted immediately however and took out his kunai, stabbing the white-haired gennin in a chest. The boy felt to the ground motionless, blood quickly staining the bandages beneath his robe.

"I hate cowards who make others fight their battles" announced the Kaimei jounin, shifting his red eyes at the hooded man. "Now it's your turn!" he proclaimed, lunging straight at the purple-eyed assailant.

But before he was able to reach him, the white-haired boy, who he just stabbed a moment ago, appeared between them, no trace of fatigue in sight. And, as the night was getting darker, the forest was soon filled with human screams...

-two days later, Rain Country shore-

Konoha gennin arrived at their destination four days after they left the Leaf; the port in which they were supposed to get on a ship wasn't anything special - located in a small village with few, wooden huts, it merely housed three tiers, most of which were not suited for docking galleons. The whole town was soaked in the smell of fish and that kinda annoyed Naruto, though Chouji was delighted with it. Fukamaru, on the other hand, didn't seemed to care at all. There weren't any boats in the port at the moment, which surprised Sakura a bit, but she didn't pay too much attention to that fact.

"So, where's that ship that we're supposed to get on, Jiraiya-sensei?" Tenten asked with respect, after she looked around for any vessels, but spotted none.

"We're few minutes early" replied the toad hermit, looking at the watch on his hand. "But it should appear soon. At any rate, you guys wait here for it and I'll go to town to… gather some material…"

"Yeah, right!" Naruto yelled, pointing his finger accusingly at the man. "You're going to peep on girls again! Dammit, you're supposed to be guiding us, ero-sennin!"

"Jiraiya-sensei, how will we know which ship are we supposed to get on?" Ino asked, slightly concerned, especially by the blond's comment, but decided to give the man the benefit of a doubt... for now.

"Don't worry" the man responded in a dismissive manner. "You'll know" and with that he was gone, receiving various reactions – Naruto was annoyed, much like Kiba and Ino. Tenten only sweat dropped, but this could've been caused by Lee's statement, which said something about 'spirit of youth' and 'prideful endeavors'. Shikamaru couldn't care less for most part.

And so the leaf-nins waited for the ship to arrive; during that time more and more shinobi from different villages started gathering, most not bothering to interact with anyone who carried a different hitae-ate. After a few minutes, the chatter between the Konoha gennin was broken by a familiar voice: "Uzumaki Naruto… good to see you again."

The blond turned around to see a short boy with spiky, red hair, carrying a gourd on his back. He was dressed completely black in a robe, making his attire very different from what the Kyuubi vessel remembered. Some features remained in tact, however, like his green eyes and a kanji for 'love' on the forehead.

Right next to him stood a girl with long, blonde hair, clipped into four, spiky ponytails. Fukamaru spotted a giant fan attached to her back, but also few strange-looking, wavy blades tied to her belt. Similarly to Hinata, she wore her headband around the neck, sporting a symbol of an hourglass.

Behind them walked a guy dressed in black with purple tattoos on his face and three scrolls attached to his back. His head gave the swordsman an impression of a cat, while a red and white circle on the chest made the whole costume look somewhat silly, at least for the young Nadare's taste.

"Gaara, how've you been?" Naruto jumped to his feet in an instant at the sight and walked closer to the sand-nin with a wide smirk plastered on his face: "Killed anyone lately?" he joked, not realizing how inappropriate such a question was.

"No, I have not" the Shukaku vessel replied calmly with his usual, emotionless expression. "But do not think I've become weak just because of that... after all, we came here to wipe the floor with you" he teased, though it was hard to tell with his indifferent exterior.

"Hey, lazy butt, how was life treating you?" Temari gave Shikamaru a smack on the head, greeting the only chuunin in the bunch.

"Until you gave me that hit on the head, I was enjoying life, actually" replied the boy, rubbing his aching spot. "So, you guys will participate in the tournament as well, huh? How troublesome; I don't wanna fight any of you..."

"Though luck, kid" announced Kankurou with a smirk, crossing his arms. "Coz we plan on winning this event."

"Yeah, well, over my dead boy!" Naruto proclaimed loudly, per usual. "I won't lose to you!"

"So, who exactly are those guys?" Fukamaru asked Kiba, only mildly interested in the whole scene. The dog ninja replied in a whisper, almost as if he wasn't sure he wanted the trio to hear him: "They're Kazekage's kids... well, former Kazekage's actually; we met them during the Chuunin Exam. They're pretty scary, especially that small one with the gourd on his back..."

"I see" the swordsman nodded with understanding, scanning Gaara closely: "_Well, the fact is that that red-head's aura is quite strong… I wonder…"_ but his thoughts were interrupted by another voice that came out of nowhere:

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Leaf shinobi. And would you look at that, even the dope came" Naruto recognized the voice immediately, as did Sakura. They both turned around to see a raven-haired boy, wearing a dark blue shirt with fan symbols and white pants. He was carrying a huge halberd on his back and a sound hitae-ate on his head.

"Sasuke" the Kyuubi vessel said silently, narrowing his eyes. It took him a moment to spot two, other sound-nins that accompanied the Sharingan master; the first one was a girl with long, red hair, dressed in tight black outfit, which showed her curves quite nicely. The kunoichi wore an eye-patch on her left eye, while her mouth was covered with a mask, similar in fashion to Kakashi's.

The other was a huge boy, full of muscles, with messy, short, brown hair, dressed in a green t-shirt and black, baggy pants, carrying a huge drum on his back and a pair of maracas at the hips. Unlike his companions, he tied his headband as a belt, while his blue eyes shown he had no interest in what was about to transpire.

"I see you're all here" Sasuke continued with a smirk, looking around. "Pity that we're the only team from the Oto that'll participate in this year's event... but still, the Sound will crush the Leaf."

"And you even dare talk to us?" Neji asked, crossing his arms, not paying much attention to the sound-nins. "You betrayed us, so unless you want me to end your life here and now... go away."

"You think you'd be able to do that, Hyuuga?" Sasuke responded, widening his smirk and then, suddenly, he jumped right at Neji, picking out his halberd. The white-eyed teen instantly went into the gentle fist style stance, ready to go into a spin, but before he could take any action, the Sharingan master's halberd was stopped by another blade.

As the former leaf-nin looked to his right, he spotted a certain Konoha shinobi, holding the sword that blocked his weapon... a shinobi he did not knew: "And you are?" he demanded calmly, curious of the boy who had an expression similar to his own.

"Nadare Fukamaru" the swordsman replied simply, holding his katana with a single hand. "And this is not a place or the time for something like this..."

"I have to agree with him, Sasuke-kun" came another, familiar voice and soon after a certain, silver-haired shinobi with glasses on his nose and the sound forehead protector on his head appeared: "You'll have plenty of time for that during the tournament."

"While I don't particularly approve of his actions, I believe you should be able to understand Sasuke-san's feelings in this matter, Kabuto-sensei" the boy with the drum stated simply with a bored expression; certainly the outcome of the ordeal made no difference to him, but Shikamaru noted his arm went for the belt, ready to grab the pair of maracas.

"That's not what we're here for, Gunko. Do not forget that" the glassed guy replied, slightly annoyed; those brats never listened: "Besides… our ride's already here" with those words he pointed at a ship that was now boarding the docks. All gennin glanced at the vessel, some of them widening their eyes at the sight.

The ship was huge, almost as big as a village with five, large masts climbing towards the sky. Each of the sails was decorated with the drawing of a golden tiger, while the front was made to look like the wild cat's head. Golden markings spread on the sides, while the deck towered over the warehouses occupying the docks. Once the boat stopped moving, all the shinobi started to get aboard.

"We should go as well" Kabuto announced, readjusting his glasses, before turning towards the blond: "Naruto-kun, I wish you luck in the tournament. You'll certainly need it" he added and with those words began walking to the ship, making the boy named Gunko follow without delay.

"We'll finish this later" Sasuke stated strongly as he put away his weapon and walked after his sensei, not giving the new Leaf ninja a second glance.

"You should watch out" the female sound-nin whispered into Fukamaru's ear once she walked past the boy: "Sasuke-kun is quite strong and anyone who gets in his way, ends up in a rather unpleasant manner" she proclaimed before running after her teammates.

"So that was the Uchiha prodigy, eh?" Fukamaru asked, glancing after the quarter while he put his katana away. "He does have a freaky aura to him, but being honest, he didn't seemed to be anything special…"

"And who are you to talk like that, Fukamaru?" came a new voice, making his eyes widen.

The Konoha shinobi, along with the Sand siblings, turned in the direction the voice came from and saw three ninja from the Kirigakure walking their way. The boy in front was their age; he had spiky, blond hair, only a bit longer then Naruto, left ear pierced with many, golden earrings and was carrying a long sword with a massive blade on his back. He wore a black shirt with a yellow waistcoat on it and long, gray pants. What caught the leaf-nins' attention most though, was a cross scar on his left cheek.

The girl that stood next to him, only a bit further, had short, blonde hair and blue eyes. Wearing very short, black skirt, high, black boots and a black, sleeveless top, she made everyone aware of her stunning figure, leaving much skin uncovered. Her hitae-ate was used as a belt with the Kiri symbol tilted to her left hip

The last one of the three was a boy with long, blue hair, clipped in a ponytail and eyes in the same color. He was wearing a black shirt with a blue kanji symbol for water on its back and white pants, sporting four, straight, blue lines going down their trouser legs. Naruto also spotted a trio of small bottles of water attached to his belt.

"What a coincidence seeing you here, Fukamaru" the girl said, sending him a glare: "And with a Konoha forehead protector no less… have you really left the Mist for good?" she questioned, making Naruto widen his eyes at the realization.

"_So that's what he meant back then, on the roof!"_ he thought to himself, glancing at his comrade. "_He's a mist-nin!_"

"And what is it to you, Renge?" Fukamaru replied defensively, narrowing his eyes.

"Is that any way to talk to old friends?" asked the blond, mist-nin in a somewhat teasing manner. "You know, we're still bond together; after all, you still have that scar I gave you" and with those words he pointed to the cut that came through Fukamaru's eye.

"Yeah, I do" the boy nodded, managing to regain his calm exterior: "So? You still carry the scar I left you too" he shoot back, shifting eyes towards the other swordsman's cheek.

"Say, Fukamaru, old buddy" Kiba interrupted their little contest, not sensing the atmosphere at all, leaning on the former mist-nin's shoulder with a devilish smirk. "Who's the chick?" he asked, pointing at the blonde girl with a flip of his eyebrow.

"Yes, tell us, Fukamaru-kun!" Lee joined his friend, enthusiasm written all over his face.

"Come on, don't be like that, answer" Chouji begged, elbowing him lightly.

Fukamaru's eye twitched at the sudden interest; boiling inside, he replied, barely holding back his rage: "She's my sister…"

Hearing that, all three Leaf shinobi backed away, sensing an urge to kill blooming inside the swordsman. Survival instincts were still in tact, at least.

"How rude of you, Fukamaru" announced the female mist-nin, putting hands on her hips as she made a playful, hurt expression: "Why won't you introduce us to your new friends?"

"Fine" the swordsman frowned, turning towards the Leaf gennin as he began pointing at the trio: "That girl over there is my twin sister, Nadare Renge... the guy with the scar on his cheek is my old time rival, Arashi Shinkou and the one with blue hair" he paused, taking another look at the boy and then raised an eyebrow: "Okay, I'm pretty sure we never met before" he said, looking at the third mist-nin curiously.

"The name's Oomizu Hisen" replied the blue-haired teen with a hiss. "And it seems that it's my lucky day, I'll get to fight the heir of Nadare… almost a dream come true" he announced, reaching for his bottles.

"No you won't, Hisen" said the one called Shinkou with an ordering tone. "We're not here for Fukamaru, though it is convenient that he'll be participating in the event as well. We are here to win the Tiger Challenge. That's our main goal and do not forget that. Tetsu-sensei will not be pleased if you screw this up for something so trivial; you're still on her blacklist for Metal Country, do not forget that."

"Yeah, and besides, I'm Nadare heir now" the girl, Renge, added.

"You sure are confident" Naruto noted, slightly agitated. "But I'll give you a piece of advice: do not underestimate us! We're stronger then you think!"

"Perhaps" Shinkou replied, obviously not impressed. "Guess we'll find out during the tournament" and with that he turned to the swordsman: "I wish you luck, Fukamaru. I'm really looking forward to a rematch. Only this time, I don't think anyone will interfere. Especially since HE is not among the living anymore… but then, you know that even better then I do..."

"Shinkou-kun!" Renge raised her voice, visibly angry. "I've asked you not to speak of HIM when I'm around!"

"You're right" the blond mist-nin nodded calmly. "Sorry… anyway, I believe we should get going now. I'll see you at the tournament, Fukamaru" and with those words the three mist-nins headed towards the ship.

"What did he mean by that?" Shino inquired once the trio were far enough.

"I do not think this is of any of your concern" the swordsman responded harshly, keeping his eyes on the Kirigakure shinobi. "Let's just say that it's something that should've been finished for a long time..."

"I see that we'll have many, strong opponents this time" Gaara stated calmly, turning to the leaf-nins. "But I guess that is to be expected from an event that gathers gennin from around the Elemental Nations. Claiming victory may not be as easy as one expected."

"Ummm… Gaara-san" Hinata began shyly looking at the redhead: "Are the other, Hidden Sand teams as strong as yours?" she asked, slightly nervous as the Shukaku vessel settled his eyes on her. After a moment of hesitation, the short gennin replied, in his normal monotone: "I don't know much about other, Suna squads… but there is one that you should be on a look out for…"

"What do you mean?" Naruto demanded curiously.

"Don't get so excited, brat!" Temari ordered, a little annoyed at the blond's lack of respect. "It's not like we have any, specific information about them, but there's this cell lead by a guy with long, black hair who wears a jet black robe. We don't know anything about their abilities, but I've heard that up till now they completed tens of missions… most of them B rank!"

Some of the Konoha gennin shivered hearing this, others widen their eyes in shock, but Shikamaru only yawed: "How troublesome… can you at least give us some information to go on here?"

"The guy's name is Dakatsu" Temari responded. "And he's a psycho..."

"Well, unless you guys expect any more, old friends to show up, maybe we can just get on that damn ship?" Kankurou purposed, getting a bit impatient.

"Fine, fine" Naruto replied dismissively as he headed towards the boat.

"_Sasuke-kun_" the pinkette thought to herself, staring at the ground as she felt an overwhelming urge to cry. "_So you really decided to betray us?"_

"S-Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Hinata asked concerned, putting a hand on pink-haired kunoichi's shoulder. "You look like you're worried by something."

"I… I'm fine, Hinata" she replied a bit hesitantly. "Let's get on that ship…"

Meanwhile, most of the shinobi were already on board, among them a group carrying Grass forehead protectors, that were looking at the port; the first one was wearing a white t-shirt with blue pants. He had short, messy, brown hair, carried a huge scroll on his back and had strange, black markings all over his body, giving an impression of being a page in a book. His hazel eyes looked dull with the skin around the right one seemed burnt, while his headband was tied around his left arm.

The other member of the squad was a girl with long, brown hair clipped in a ponytail that allowed two, long strands for frame her cute face, also sporting a short fringe. She carried a long katana on her back, had blue eyes and was wearing a white, sleeveless shirt with black waistcoat on it and long, green pants with the left trouser leg ripped off at the top, showing off her slim leg. Using her forehead protector as a belt, the Grass symbol falling to her hip, her right palm was hidden in a snake-skin glove and the figure gave out a very alluring vibe.

The last youth of the quartet was dressed mostly green, wearing a blouse in that color with rolled-up sleeves. His pants were gray, while each arm was wrapped in bandages. He had hazel eyes, medium-length, black hair, made into dreadlocks and was carrying a huge medallion with twelve, golden balls on it around his neck. Unlike his teammates, his hitae-ate was located in its rightful place.

The eldest of the group, a man with medium-length, gray hair that fell freely down his back, sported a beard around his mouth and, while his face was wrinkled, his green eyes were undoubtfully sharp as he carefully observed his surroundings. Keeping his arms within the sleeves of his wide, gray robe, his forehead protector rested around the neck.

As the Leaf and Sand gennin made their way onto the ship, the one with bandages glanced at them curiously, his left hand starting to shiver at the sensation. Seeing this, the girl turned to him, asking with concern in her voice: "Is everything alright, Fugato-san?"

"Yes… it's fine, Ayame" replied the male with a forced smile. "I guess I'm just excited."

"Really?" asked the other boy with his eyes still spaced-out and his voice distant. "Are you sure it wasn't something else?" he pushed, almost as if knowing that was preciously the case.

"Yes, I'm sure" the one called Fugato announced strongly, turning away from the docks. "_But that feeling… could it be?_" he wondered, while the elder only glanced at the fifteen youths that climbed aboard of the vessel.

Once Naruto and the rest of the leaf-nins entered the ship, another team of four shinobi in black hoods were stopped by a ship guard, giving them suspicious looks: "Who are you?" he demanded sternly, yet none of the arrivals seemed to get the least bit intimidated.

"We are here for the tournament" replied the oldest man, leading the four. "We are the team from Kaimeigakure" and with those words he took off his forehead protector and gave it to the guard. The guard examined it closely and after spotting the skull on it he allowed the four, hooded ninja to enter the boat as he stepped aside.

And as they did so, the eyes of their leader shun purple, while a big smirk appear on his face.

The ship left the port; the Leaf shinobi and the Sand siblings looked at the opened sea with nothing in the distance. The waters were calm, inviting even, but they could also feel a storm was coming. The greatest challenge of their lives has just began...

_**-welcome to your nightmare-**_

And that concludes this chapter. Sorry for the lack of action, but very soon the tournament will begin and you'll have tons of it then. As mentioned above, I'll be making a list of "who's who" to make it easier of keeping track with all the Ocs that will be appearing in the event. Some of them are not important and will be here just for the games, but others will play a part even beyond the Tiger Challenge, so don't be too quick to disregard any:

_**Konoha (Jiraiya):**_ Haruno Sakura, Nadare Fukamaru, Uzumaki Naruto

_**Konoha (Jiraiya):**_ Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba

_**Konoha (Jiraiya):**_ Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru

_**Konoha (Jiraiya):**_ Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee

_**Suna (Baki):**_ Temari, Sabaku no Gaara, Kankurou

_**Kiri (Eimei Tetsu):**_ Nadare Renge (blonde girl, clad in black), Arashi Shinkou (swordsman with the cross scar), Oomizu Hisen (blue-haired boy with water bottles)

_**Kusa (?):**_ Hitobashira Ayame (the girl with the alluring looks), Juutai Fugato (the boy with bandages on his arms), ? (the boy covered in black markings)

_**Oto (Yakushi Kabuto):**_ ? (girl with an eye-patch), Shisei Gunko (boy with a drum and maracas), Uchiha Sasuke

_**Kaimei (?):**_ ?, ?, ? (the boy in bandages)

As some of you noticed, the rooster already has one change from the original and Gunko has been tweaked with a bit too. As the story progress, you'll spot many more differences in the lineup, so I advice you pay attention ;)

And that's really it for this time. Please leave a review with your opinion. Take care and hopefully till the next chapter.


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